Love Worth Loss
by RegretOrRejoice
Summary: It's been one year since Percy died in the aftermath of the Titan War and Annabeth has never been the same. Now, at a family gathering, she is forced to recall the best and the worst times they had together as she tries to cope with her loss.
1. The Reunion

**Love Worth Loss**

**Chapter 1 The Reunion**

**Hello everyone! I hope you like the story!**

**Annabeth's POV**

"Annabeth! Hurry we don't want to be late!" My father called from the driver's seat of the car where he sat next to my stepmom.

"I'm coming! Calm down!" I snapped back, tired of people always demanding things of me.

I ran out the house, slammed the door with a bang and slid into the back seat of the car next to the twins. We were on our way to my aunt's house. She had just had a baby three months ago and we were going to meet him. My other step aunts and uncles were going to be there too. Yep, it was going to be a whole big family party. Exactly how I do _not_ like to spend my day.

The ride took four hours and I slept the whole way. Recently, sleep had been my escape. It was the only place I could go where thoughts of him didn't follow. The first weeks after his death, I couldn't sleep at all. Too many nightmares. Instead, I spent the nights wandering around town and then I'd crash for a few hours in the morning. But now, as May turned into June and we were slowly approaching one year of me being without him, the nightmares had stopped altogether and I would spend more than half the day sleeping.

"Wake up, sweetie. We're here." My dad shook me awake until I groggily opened my eyes. "Aren't you excited to meet baby Peter?"

"I guess," I said unenthusiastically.

My dad gave me a sympathetic look. Man, I was tired of that look.

"Let's go inside," he said.

I rolled my eyes, but got up to follow him in. We walked up to the house and went through the front door which my stepfamily had just disappeared through.

As soon as we entered the hallway we were descended on by tons of people.

"Oh you're here!"

"So glad you could make it!"

"How was the trip?"

My head spun as I was wrapped in so many different hugs and my mouth hurt from fake smiling at so many different people. Yeah, my stepfamily is _big._ And they were all so sweet and caring and interested in what I was doing that I used to find them fun and loving, but now all I felt was suffocated.

"Excuse me," I said at the first chance I got and I ran off into the bathroom.

I locked the door behind me and put my hands on either side of the sink. I was gripping the counter so hard that my knuckles turned white. I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

I looked so different than I had just a year ago. I didn't know it was so easy for someone to change so much in such a short period of time.

My skin had a greyish tint and there were bags under my eyes. My blonde hair fell straggly down my back. It was longer now. I hadn't bothered to cut it in months. My lips were chapped and I wondered briefly how long it had been since they had seen a real smile.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. I really freaked out in there. It's been a while that I've been with so many people, but still. They were my family. _What happened to me?_ Well, I knew exactly what happened, but I still didn't like what I had become.

At the thought of him, my stomach filled with a sickening ache. But no tears came. Nope, I had cried enough in those first few weeks to last me a life time.

Alright, I needed to go back to the party. Needed to try to enjoy myself. I took one more look at myself and felt a pang of disgust. He would not have wanted this. He would have expected more from me. But I guess that strong, invincible girl he knew was long gone.

I went back into the living room where everyone had settled. It was a small, cozy room with large windows overlooking their backyard.

"Annabeth, how have you been? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" It was my Aunt Molly, a short, plump woman with dark curly hair. She was nice enough, just a bit too nice and a bit too enthusiastic- about _everything_.

"I'm fine. How are you?" I replied, just trying to be polite.

"Oh, I'm excellent! I just finished making the most adorable apple pie. I can't wait for you to try it!"

"Me either, sounds delicious."

"So why has it been so long since I've seen your lovely face?" She said with a quirky smile and a nudge to my ribs.

Swallowing my irritation, I said, "Oh, you know, I've just been really busy… with school, and …stuff."

Fortunately, she didn't notice my hesitation and exclaimed, "Oh right! You're into all that architecture stuff, right? How's that been going?"

Now I really wanted to get out of this conversation. "Well, actually I've kinda grown out of that."

"Oh, that's such a shame! You seemed to really enjoy it and you were good at it too."

"Yeah," I mumbled. "I guess I've just changed." The truth is that ever since he died, I couldn't work on any architecture projects anymore. I couldn't focus because all I could see was his face, slightly mocking, smiling at me. It was too connected with him so, like everything else, I pushed it away.

"Well, maybe you can pick it up again sometime!" She nodded and it was clear that in her life, every problem had a perfect solution.

Luckily, I was saved from having to respond by my Aunt Suzanne entering the room. She was carrying her new son, Peter, in her arms. Immediately, everyone surrounded her. And for some reason, I felt myself pushing to get a better look too. I guess that I had seen enough death that I thought it would be nice to see some new life.

Naturally, Aunt Molly was the closest to the baby. "Oh, can I hold him? Please!" She squealed and Aunt Suzanne passed him into her anxiously waiting arms. "He's beautiful," Molly cooed.

I still hadn't really seen him and it wasn't until Aunt Molly looked up, noticed me watching, gave a faint smile and passed him to me that I got my first good look. For a moment, my heart stopped.

This little boy that I held in my arms was familiar to me. I was looking down at a boy with dark hair and eyes the color of the sea and as I did so I remembered another boy that was oh so similar to him.

Suddenly, I wasn't standing in a room surrounded by my family members, but another place entirely.

**Thanks for reading! Chapter 2 will be up soon. Please comment, whether you liked it, loved it, hated it, or have constructive criticism :)**


	2. The Loss

**Love Worth Loss**

**Chapter 2- The Loss**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed to my first chapter! It really means a lot!. This chapter is set in flashback, Annabeth's POV.**

_The ground rumbled beneath my feet. The skies flashed with lightning. The wind roared with the carried screams of the confused bystanders, their eyes shrouded in the Mist. _

_Percy and I had been on a date, a picnic in Central Park. Just like any normal teenage couple. Too bad our abnormal lives had to catch up with us so quickly. It looked like the monsters weren't ready to give up, not when they had come so close to so much power. _

_We were completely caught by surprise. One second we were spreading peanut butter on a sandwich and the next we were surrounded by four gruesome monsters, all bent on revenge. _

_Percy shot up, Riptide already in his hand. I was startled, it took me an extra moment to fumble around until I grabbed my dagger from the inside of my jacket. My first mistake. By that time they were already on us. I looked up to find two Laistrygonian Giants. I heard Percy call out and I knew the other two were on him. They had divided us on purpose, knowing we were much more dangerous together. _

_Training took over and I slashed and dived with my blade, but it wasn't enough. One spindly hand shot out and I barely had time to side step it before it sliced open my arm. Fortunately, this pain fueled my rage, not my fear. I roared in anger and launched myself at the demon. It wasn't expecting such a forward attack and I was able to drive my blade through its body before it could defend itself. It fell over until I was sitting on top of it as it slowly disintegrated into dust. Hope fled through me. We'd gotten out of plenty of worse situations before. We could do this. It wasn't until I felt strong arms wrap around me and lift me off my feet did I realize I had sat there for one fraction of a second too long. My second mistake._

"_PERCY!" I managed to squeal out as the arms tightened around my body, slowly crushing me. _

_I choked for air, but couldn't get any. Black spots danced around my vision. But one thing remained perfectly in focus. Percy._

_Percy, hearing my cry and looking around wildly. Percy, his eyes widening in horror as they landed on me. Percy, turning his back on the one Giant he was still fighting to run towards me. _

_I stretched out my arm, encouraging him onward. My third mistake._

_Three strikes and you're out._

_Percy moved with incredible speed, but to me it was all slow motion. He swung his sword and it found its mark in the Giant holding me. It disintegrated and I fell to the ground, coughing and holding my side. Percy was on me immediately, holding up my head and comforting me as if the fourth and final monster would wait to give us a fighting chance. But these were monsters, and they don't play fair. _

_Percy was thrown from my side as the Giant tackled him. He rolled, trying to throw it off, but it was no use. Already, the Giant's fist was lashing out. I saw the glint of a blade and I knew what would happen before it did. With my dagger, the Giant pierced the small of Percy's back, his tie to mortality._

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I cried. Rage flashed through me and I used all of my remaining strength that until that moment I hadn't known I possessed to pick up Riptide where it had fallen and fling it at the monster. It soared in the air, true to its mark and buried itself into the monster's hide. It roared with pain, but it was already dying, returning to the Underworld. _

_I crawled to Percy's side, picked up his head and lay it in my lap. _

"_Percy, Percy," I whimpered, begging him to stay with me. But I knew it was no use. I felt as if I were the one dying. It was if my insides were being torn open. The pain was unbearable._

_His sea green eyes focused on my grey ones for the briefest of moments. "Annabeth," he whispered._

_The ground rumbled, the skies flashed, the wind roared, all the while Percy took his last shaking breath and died in my arms._

**Thanks for reading! PLEASE review! I love constructive critiscm! I'll finish chapter three (the last chapter) and post it as soon as I can!**


	3. The Love

Love Worth Loss

Chapter 3- The Love

These memories came forth and hit me like a cold splash of water. Everything I had kept hidden inside of me for so long came rushing out. I had tried to hold these thoughts back and never think the name Percy Jackson again, but now it was too late. I felt a tear trickle slowly down my cheek.

But then, something happened. It was one of those moments in life that you know you'll remember forever. Something small, but so unexpected that it strikes a chord in you all the same.

Peter wiggled in my arms, and laughed. His tiny face broke into a crazy grin and his body shook with a little giggle. It was small, but it was enough. Just like that, I was lost in memories again.

"_C'mon Seaweed Brain, you can do better than that!"I called over my shoulder as I sprinted toward Half Blood Hill. It was late August and the pain of the Titan War was already lifting. Because I had Percy and I was madly in love with him._

_Percy and I had decided to go for a run this morning as a warm up before our training started. Naturally, it had turned into a race._

_Starting at the Athena Cabin, first one to the Golden Fleece wins. And I was in the lead._

_With my ponytail swishing behind me, my legs were pumping and carrying me at a speed that only a Demigods can. I could hear Percy getting closer, but I was already half way up the hill. Victory would be mine for sure!_

_Out of nowhere, something crashed into me from the side. I fell with whatever it was on top of me and started rolling down the Hill._

_For a second, I was scared and tried to desperately separate myself from whatever had taken me down. But then I heard Percy's laughter and saw his dark mop and knew it was him that had knocked me down._

_I was tempted to kill him, but then couldn't help but share in his laughter._

_Finally, our bodies came to rest at the foot of the hill, with him lying on top of me. _

"_Percy" I gasped through my laughter. _

_Neither of us could speak because we were laughing so hard so we just lay there in the grass for a while. Finally, we calmed down and I was able to catch my breath. _

_"So, it's a tie?" He asked, batting those amazing long eyelashes at me. _

_"No!" I said, resisting. "I won the race!" _

_"Hmmm it doesn't look like you made it to the Golden Fleece." _

_"Because you tackled me!" _

_"Still..." _

_"Nope, nope. I won. You lost. You, cheater!" The more worked up I got, the happier he got. He just laughed and laughed. "Stop it, Percy! I won and you know it!"_

_I yanked myself up and began walking away, frustrated at his stubbornness. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground again. He had grabbed my ankle and tugged me down. He crawled on top of me again._

"_Fine Annabeth, you won. Whatever you want," he said as he leaned forward and began to kiss me._

The landscape faded and the scene changed.

_"PERCY," I squealed, as I tried to escape his grip. "Percy, if you don't stop I swear!" _

_"You swear what?" He whispered teasingly as he wrestled me to the ground, tickling me. Yep, out of all the things in the world, tickling was my weakness. Well, tickling and spiders._

_We were lying on the floor of the Athena cabin. He was on top of me and I was desperately trying to throw him off. _

_"PERCY!" I said again, because my breath was running short and it is very hard to think while you are being tickled to death. _

_"This is fun," he said. "I don't think I plan on stopping anytime soon." No one could aggravate me like he could. I swatted at him with my arms, but it was no use. I probably just looked like a flailing fish. He was not going to budge. _

_"Please, Perce," I gasped. "What will make you stop?"  
"What will you do to make me stop?" He was enjoying this way too much._

_"Anything!" I pleaded, squirming and giggling on the ground like an idiot. Getting tickled must be pretty high on the list of worst tortures._

_"Alright then." And he stopped tickling me. He pinned my arms down, above my head. I lay, gasping, on the floor, with him still on top of me, his legs straddled on either side of my thighs. "You know what you have to do to make me stop tickling you?" He leaned in so his face was barely an inch from mine. "Kiss me." _

_So I did._

The scene faded and changed again.

_We were lying on a blanket by Half-Blood Hill. Percy's arm was around my shoulders and I was leaning in to him. _

_It was late August. Percy and I had just been packing to get ready to move back in with our parents for the school year. I was going to miss him so much. We promised to hang out every weekend, but it would be a big adjustment from spending every second with him here at camp. Still, we have this one last night to spend together. _

_Our empty Burger King bags lay around us. Percy, with the help of the Stoll brothers, sneaked it into Camp, and it was the most perfect meal I could have hoped for. _

_"Almost midnight," Percy whispered in my ear, showing me his watch that showed 11:59. _

_"You ready?" I asked, turning to face him. _

_"I'm ready for anything, as long as I have you by my side." I leaned in, and we kissed. A long, deep, lingering kiss. One of those kisses that make my entire body tingle. As soon as we began to break apart, the whistle of fireworks could be heard in the sky making it light up with bright colors. _

_"Ahhh fireworks," Percy said, leaning back on his elbows. I leaned back next to him, so that only our shoulders touched in the slightest bit. I watched the fireworks burst open in the night, but laying here next to Percy, I felt as if they were within me and not just in the sky. I glanced at him and noticed that he had been watching me the entire time. _

_"You know, Seaweed Brain, the fireworks are up there," I say, nudging him. _

_He takes a deep breath. "I love you, Annabeth." _

_For a moment, I freeze. I was definitely not expecting him to say that. But then I realize how ridiculous I'm being. "I love you too, Percy." And I have never been so sure of something in my entire life. _

_He smiled and heaved a sigh of relief, as if he had been afraid of my response. I can't help but laugh out loud. He laughs too, and together we take hands and lay down on our backs, watching the firework show. _

The scene faded.

"_As long as we're together." _

_"I love you." _

_"I'm never going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain."_

The images faded and I was back in my aunt's home. Only a moment had passed, but for me, it felt like ages.

I looked down at the tiny child in my arms and was reminded of another boy with dark hair and eyes the color of the sea. But for once, I didn't cringe or cry. I smiled.

**So, that's the end. Thank you so much for reading my story! I hope you liked it. Please leave a comment! They always make my day :)**


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